I am truly sick of the whole "separation of church and state" discussion that seems to be a knee-jerk reaction by liberals whenever a conservative mentions their personal faith.
The Foundation Documents of the U.S. include the Declaration of Independence; Constitution and Bill of Rights (the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution). The Declaration of Independence includes multiple references to God (or "The Creator" - who the heck do you think created us at the top of earth's food chain if not "God"?) and is the primary document on which the foundation of the USA rests.
The Constitution and the Bill of Rights does not include any language that establishes a "separation of church and state". In point of fact, the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment protects the right of the people to have and practice their own chosen religion. This was written into the Constitution because of the situation in England that many of the Colonials suffered under.
In England; there existed the Church of England - a national church that was also a political entity and which could exact taxes from the citizens of England - in addition to the taxes exacted by the government. Many an English Landowner - most notably the second (or third, etc) sons of a nobleman lost their property - and their titles due to unjust taxation by the Church of England.
In America, the Founders were committed to preventing a state established religion that could exert similar authority to the Church of England. Thus, the First (ratified) Amendment to the Constitution is written to protect the people from being forced into an autocratic situation - that of having a state run religion.
As this is the history - and yes, it is documented - look in the Foundation Documents and the Articles of Confederation - to see the background explained here in this Blog post.
The actual term and interpretation of "separation of church and state" is contained in the text of a personal Thank You letter written by Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptist Church in 1802. This letter actually exemplified the explanation given above - that no man was subject to explaining his faith to any other man. Nor, was a man's faith subject to governance by the Federal Government.
So, as is exemplified in both the First Amendment and the Danbury Letter, in all fact; the term "separation of church and state" has been usurped by those who would deny the basic Christian Principles in the foundation of the US.
As if this was not enough; there is an Article of the Constitution which lays down clearly that if there is an incorrect "interpretation" of the Constitution and the Amendments, that interpretation - and any following actions based on that incorrect interpretation - do not constitute the creation of a right - or precedent of law that will stand under examination.
The meaning of the Founders was clear - practicing the religion of one's choice was protected in the US and infringement of that right is indeed Unconstitutional.
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